Shares of Viet Nam’s biggest local steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) rose 1.45 per cent to reach VND35,100 per share after its chairman Tran Dinh Long implied a possible purchase of the company’s shares.

The company estimates its 11-month profit at VND8.1 trillion and predicts a dividend payout of at least 30 per cent for next year.

The banking sector advanced 0.5 per cent on the rally of numerous banking stocks. TPBank (TPB), Bank for Investment and Development (BID) and Saigon-Hanoi Joint Stock Bank (SHB) gained 1.5 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively.

The slide of the US market also affected Vietnamese stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.1 per cent to close at 25,027.07 points, wiping out the rise of more than 600 points on Monday.

The S&P500 and NYSE Composite subsequently declined 3.24 per cent and 2.83 per cent to settle at 2,700.06 points and 12,221.98 points, eliminating their growth of 30 points and more than 100 points on Monday.

One of the major causes for the US market’s decline was the drop of 10-year Treasury note to 2.91 per cent, triggering the yield curve to flatten out. John Williams, president of the Fed’s New York regional bank, reaffirmed his statement supporting FED rate hikes in the near future.

According to Bao Viet Securities Company, the market may keep increasing in the next session and move towards the 959-965 threshold, which would be considered a noteworthy mark for the VN-Index. Therefore, the market may need to accumulate before continuing to rally. — VNS

The Co.op Food store chain under Saigon Co.op will open four new stores this weekend in Can Tho, Binh Duong, Long An and Ha Noi, raising the total number of its stores to over 400 after more than 10 years in the Vietnamese consumer goods market.